


let young hearts beat free

by writevale



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Cecil is a Good Uncle, Family Bonding, M/M, The Registry of Middle School Crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 12:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19334836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writevale/pseuds/writevale
Summary: Cecil and Janice destroy the Registry of Middle School Crushes. Janice tells her uncle why.





	let young hearts beat free

**Author's Note:**

> This begged to be written. I hope you enjoy it!

It made perfect sense that Cecil Palmer and Janice Carlsberg-Palmer, conspirators in the most perfect crime in Night Vale since Telly the Barber got his hands on Carlos' perfect tresses, be the ones to finish the job. Janice had made several modifications to her wheelchair again, including the addition of two wheels from John Peters' _(you know, the farmer?)_ old tractor and it was making light work of the golden dunes and rough scrub of the Sand Wastes. 

 

'What did your mom say about your new wheels?' Cecil panted behind her, feet slipping in the cooling sand, as he tried to keep up. Janice shrugged.

'She kinda shook her head. Guess what Steve said?' Being a bright young woman, Janice had begun picking up on the subtle hints that Cecil was not overly fond of her step-father. Or, rather, she had heard her Uncle talk about Steve Carlsberg on the radio since she was five. She seemed to find it amusing rather than uncomfortable.

'I'd rather not.' Cecil said as curtly as someone who is wearing a faux fur gillet and carrying The Registry of Middle School Crushes can. Janice giggled.

'He said they're _wheely_ good.'

'Oh, GOOOODDDD.'

 

Cecil wouldn't let Janice light the fire.

'Hey, I know what I'm doing! I used to be a Weird Scout.' He said, whispering soothing things at the Bloodstone in his hand. Janice gave him a look that read: _you're still weird._ 'If I could just remember…' Cecil yelped as the stone burst into flames in his hand and he dropped it into the small pile of twigs. He turned to Janice with a grin. 'See?'

 

'Can you reach?' He asked as he wheeled Janice as close to the crackling fire as the huge tires and his sense of parental responsibility would allow.

'Uhuh.' She held the blood-red folder at arms-length, the flames dancing below it. 'Please will you say something, Uncle Cecil?'

'Say something?'

'Yeah, to give the moment _gravitas_.'

Cecil's mouth twisted as he fought back a smile. He would bet Carlos' attractive hybrid coupe on what the word of the week at Night Vale Middle School was this week. He cleared his throat.

'Begone, foul evidence of Government control over young Night Vale citizens. Return to the damp, bureaucratic cavern from which all records arise. Let heady teenage hormones rage on. Let young hearts beat free of incriminating evidence of their affections. Let the duty done today by none other than Janice - _my niece, y'all_ \- never be undone. And may all Middle School students survive the wonderful and awful affliction of an embarrassing first crush.'

Janice dropped the folder into the fire and Cecil yanked her chair away quickly as it started smoking, burning blue and green and violet.

'Cooooool.' Janice said.

 

They sat and watched the fire blaze on as the sun started a lazy descent towards the strange rock formations (that definitely were not mountains) in the West. Cecil had found a packet of bird jerky and a tin of canned peaches in his pocket and they shared both.

'So,' Cecil licked a stripe of peach juice from his hand and glanced knowingly at his niece. 'Are you going to tell me who it was?' Janice let out a groan that was scarily reminiscent of the one his sister used to make when he used to wind her up by narrating spiders into her daily routine.

'I knew you were lying on the radio when you said you wouldn't ask.'

'Ah,' Cecil smiled, 'I lied on the radio all day. It was part of the plan!' Janice took another bite out of her jerky and said nothing. The setting sun was casting a warm pink glow over the Sand Wastes and it seemed that Janice had decided that it would be a nice colour on her cheeks as well.

'You're going to laugh at me.'

'I won't, Scout's Honour.' Cecil made a strange series of gestures and contemporary dance moves that he thought were the steps of a Boy Scout's salute. No rift in space or time appeared when he was done, so he figured he'd got it right. If he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure why he was asking, he did not need to know. But there was so much of his childhood, whenever that was, that was gone from his memory. It would be nice to imagine what it felt like to be young and have an embarrassing crush in lieu of actual personal experience.

'It's weird and embarrassing.' Janice said and then, just as Cecil decided not to push it any further, 'You can't tell _anyone._ '

'I swear, I won't tell a soul.' Cecil vowed. He hear Janice take a deep breath in, as though the secret needed to be forced out from the very bottom of her lungs.

'It'sunclecarlos.'

'What?'

'Isaidit'sunclecarlos.' The tips of Janice's ears had turned such a vibrant shade of red they actually started glowing.

‘Carlos? As in-?’

‘Yesssss.' She hissed through gritted teeth.

'Aww, Janice that's _so cute_.'

'Stop!' She whined, 'I didn't even think it was a proper crush, I just think he has pretty hair - right?'

'Oh, for sure.'

'And then I got awoken at 5:02AM by the seven-toed raven from the City Council to inform me that my crush had been noted in the Registry of Middle School Crushes and I'm like what the - can I say heck?'

'You just did.' Cecil noted.

'Oops, yeah . . . Please don't tell him.'

'I won't tell him you have a crush on him, if you don't tell him I have a crush on him too.' Cecil said, voice solemn. Janice laughed despite herself.

'He's your boyfriend, you idiot.'

 

They paused to watch the last of the twigs crackle in the now orange, now mauve flames. Cecil rose and dusted the sand off his leggings. 'I told you it was embarrassing.' Janice mumbled as they started to head back to the car.

'No, it’s really very sweet. Do you know who I had a crush on in Middle School?' His voice held the weight of someone who was about to let a dangerous secret out of its cage.

'Who?' Janice said, interested.

'Oh.' Forlornly. 'I was genuinely asking. I can't remember anything from Middle School.'

 

*****

 

It was dark by the time Cecil had dropped off Janice and made the short drive home. His boyfriend had made himself at home, a nest of research papers littering the floor as he sat by the reading lamp in his most comfortable Around the House labcoat. It made Cecil's chest hurt to see him.

 

'Hi, baby!' He called and Carlos twisted in his seat to give him a dazzling smile.

'Hi, handsome. I made chilli - it's on the stove.' Cecil's stomach growled in response.

 

Cecil planted a kiss on Carlos' cheek as he joined him on the sofa, bowl of food in one hand, the other reaching to lace his fingers with his boyfriend.

'Great job today! I'm so happy that the plan worked!' The scientist said, squeezing Cecil's fingers back. He looked at their intertwined hands then up at Cecil's face. 'Did - uh - did Janice tell you who her crush was?'

‘Ye-es.’

‘Was it as we hypothesised?’ They shared a long look.

‘I couldn’t _possibly_ say.’

 


End file.
